During this period we inculcate habits of proper usage of toilets, the correct way of brushing, maintaining sensible time limits during tiffin time and activity times, developing good inter-personal skills …This is done in a joyful way. Children are encouraged to bring tooth brushes and soaps to school so that they can learn to use it in the right way. A lot of time is given to hone skills needed for reading and writing. They have activities like threading beads in different patterns, playing with clay, sorting objects, playing with sand…
What do I mean by readiness programme at home?
I mean a friendly attitude towards school in general and teachers and classmates in particular. I have observed that very small kids first draw security zones around them and rarely go out of it. As they grow, they gradually enlarge it and actually test by leaving it for short durations. So, the idea of school should probably be introduced in a fashion of ‘visiting’ rather than ‘going’. When we say “you have to go to school and learn things …” we are indirectly telling that she needs to ‘go away’ .Instead we should treat school as a place she will visit and come back after many enjoyable experiences. We can even talk about the great experiences we have had at school. ’Teacher’ has to be alluded to in positive tones .Under no circumstances should ‘school’ or ‘teacher’ be referred to as punishments or as some vague prison where the child’s freedom is going to be curtailed…
Next, the actual act of ‘going’. Going to school begins at least three months before schools reopen! Yes, one should mentally prepare our kids by timing their morning routines by the clock. A kid need not be trained to read the time but she should certainly be made aware of time. We should see that a pattern is maintained for going to bed and waking up. Sunday ho ya Monday a regular schedule keeps the kid bright and cheerful on all days. Most times we see children coming to school with a totally stale look. A bath in the morning not only keeps them clean, it makes them fresh and more receptive to the day’s activities. And the next important thing is giving them a good breakfast. It should have the right mix of cereals and proteins. This applies to the lunch box too. Fancy /junk food stuff is a clear no-no. Most times the kids demand junk food to attend school/the parent promises such food as a reward for good behaviour.The kid has to be familiarized with the process of opening the box and feeding herself. Using a napkin, clearing up the place, washing hands and mouth …all these need to be practised. Tying shoe laces, wearing socks, putting back things in the bag…are other things that one can ‘do’ by playing games at home. A time schedule foe eating within a reasonable period of time is useful. Otherwise most kids are able to manage just a cup of milk before coming to school and please remember the lunch break is at least three hours later.

Ofcourse toilet training is very important.This is to avoid embarrassment to the kid and shooting pains in the abdomen of the little one.

In most families parents think up names of kids even before they are born. The name of the school they want their wards to enter are also in their minds.Most often kids are trained to tell the name of their future school as soon as they are able to speak !In houses where there are already school going children the little ones claim to know who is going to be their teacher too!

The reason for this post is to begin a process of physically and mentally training the kid in preparation for the ‘sambhrama’ of ‘actual going’ to school. I don’t mean ‘teaching’ the letters of the alphabet, colours in the rainbow ,names of the President /PM/ministers,os rhymes etc. I mean training the child to be ready for the process of going out of the house at fixed times ,following a routine for eating,playing and learn basic things in personal hygiene.

In our school,like in all Kendriya Vidyalayas we have very simple prerequisites for admission to Class I.The child should have completed five years as on September 30 of that year in which she is seeking admission.We don’t ask for any prior knowledge /kindergarten education. We conduct school readiness programme for six weeks.
Under this programme, we teach children reading readiness, writing readiness,basic hygiene .This is very useful for first generation learners and to those where parent is semiliterate.
To be continued…